An east London Real Canadian Superstore has undergone a "deep-clean and sanitization" after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Customers of the store at 825 Oxford St. E were notified about the infected worker through an email sent by the grocery chain on Thursday.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we’re notifying customers who recently transacted at this store," the email said.
The grocery chain also noted an additional deep clean and sanitization of the store has been done, over and above its daily disinfectant protocols. The store has since reopened to the public.
The infected employee has not been at the store since Sunday.
The company has reached out to local public health officials to investigate the worker's recent shifts and direct contacts. It says all other "potentially exposed" store employees are now self-isolating at home.
"We will work with the local public health team on any further directions and encourage you to reach out to them if you need more information," the email instructed customers.
At his daily media briefing on Thursday afternoon, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie said the infected employee handled food while working.
"The individual actually worked for two days while they were symptomatic, preparing food. The food prepared was bread. This is bread baked and sliced in house so it wouldn't be related to branded bread coming from outside the facility," he said. "If you have purchased bread at Superstore at Oxford and Gammage, bread that was produced in Superstore, please discard that. The risk is very low, but it's not zero. So we would ask that anyone that has that food, please discard it."
Dr. Mackie added that anyone who shopped at the Superstore on April 25 or April 26 and might be concerned about possible infection should keep an eye on any symptoms that might develop.
"Please do monitor yourself. You don't need to seek testing if you haven't got symptoms. But any symptoms at all - respiratory symptoms, cough, fever, shortness of breath, of course - but also other symptoms. We're learning more and more that coronavirus can have a wide range of impacts including gastrointestinal symptoms (like) nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. So, if you have any new symptoms and you have been in contact with bread purchased at Superstore over the last three days or so, please discard that bread and get yourself in to one of our assessment centres."
The is the second London Real Canadian Superstore worker that has tested positive for COVID-19. Last Friday, the company notified customers of its location at 1205 Oxford St. W that an employee had been diagnosed with the virus. That store was thoroughly cleaned and reopened the following day.